bridewell



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1. R. P. BRIDEWBLL.

AUTOMATIC GAS LIGHTING AND EXTINGUISHING DE VICE.

Patented Aug. 21, 1888.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. P. BRIDEWELL.

AUTOMATIC GAS LIGHTING AND EXTINGUISHING DEVICE.

No. 388,177. Patented Aug. 21, 1888.

'1. ITEM Mad-Nymphs. WWO". D4 8.

UNITED STATES PATENT OrEicE.

RICHARD F. BRIDEW'ELL, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSTGNOR, BY DIRECTAND MESN E ASSIGNMENTS, OF T'WOTHIRDS TO HENRY H. ALLEN AND MARYPENDERGAST, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC GAS LiGHTlNG AND EXTlNGUlSi-HNG DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 388,177, dated August21, 1888.

(No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD F. BRIDE- WELL, of the city and county ofSan Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improve ment inAutomatic Gas Lighting and Extinguishing Apparatus; and i hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My in vention relates to the class ofgas lighto ers and extinguishers;and my invention consists in the constructions and combinations, which Ishall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for 5 a more complete explanationof my invention, Figure l is a front elevation of my apparatus. Fig. 2is a cross section of the valve D. Fig. 3 is a section through the dialand wheel F. Fig. 4 is an elevation showing the battery and circuit.

A is a shell or casing having in its walls the passages a for the gas.The lower ends of these passages communicate with the pipe a, whichcommunicates with the gas-inlet pipe B, and the upper ends ofsaidpassagescommnnicate with the burner O. The pipe a is controlled by avalve, D, which is made cylindrical in cross section, and ishorizontally arranged in its seat transversely of the pipe.

The cylinder is provided with diametricallyarranged ports d, which, bythe rotation of the valve, are adapted to be successively brought intoalignment with the hole in the pipe,thereby opening thegas-communieation, the space between these ports serving to out saidcommunication off.

The projecting end of the valve D is provided with a ratchet, (2, whichis actuated by a pawl, (1, and is held in place by a retainingpawl, (1Upon the face of the shell or casing A is made a dial, E, over which ahand, 0, moves, and within the center of the dial is mounted upon thehand-arbor a disk or wheel, F. Pivoted upon said arbor are also the0ppositely-arranged cams G and i i, said cams being adapted to be set inany required pest iion on the face of the wheel F by means of set-screwsf, which pass through the cams and into curved slots or grooves j madein the face of the wheel F.

Pivoted to the face of the casing A at the point i is an elbow orbell-crank lever, I, the vertical arm of which is in the path of thecams G and I-Land is adapted to be operated thereby. The horizontal armof said lever is connected with a link, J, the lower end of which isconnected with a pivoted arm, K, to which the actuating-pawl d isattached. Pivoted also ati is a second elbow or bell-crank lever, L, thevertical arm of which is also in the path of the cams Gand H, though atpoint higher up. The horizontal arm of said lever rests on a shoulder oroffset, m, on the lower end of a connecting-link, M, the upper end ofwhich is connected with one end of a curved lever, N, which is pivotedat the point a.

O is the pivoted lever on the burner,which carries the sparking-point o,by which the gas is lighted. One end of the lever O has connected withit a link, P, the lower end of 73 which is pivoted to the curved leverN. A spring, 2', is connected with the bent lever I in such a way thatits tendency is to throw the horizontal arm of said lever downwardly,and a spring, Z, is so arranged in connection 75 with the bent lever Lthat its tendency is to throw the horizontal arm of said leverdownwardly. A spring, 0', is arranged in connec' tion with thesparking-lever Oin such a way as to throw its horizontal arm upwardly,whereby its sparking-wire is kept away from the burner.

Within the casing A is arranged a clockwork mechanism, which I havedeemed unnecessary herein to show, as it maybe of any suitablecharacter. I have, however, in Fig.

4.- shown the electric battery V and the electric circuit c, whichincludes the sparking lever.

The operation of the device as far as de- 9c scribed is as follows: Theclock mechanism is arranged to turn the haudc through a completerevolution in twenty-four hours, and, as the disk or wheel F is mountedon the handarbor, said wheel is also turned around in twenty-four hours.The cams G and H are set properly on the wheel F by means of theirset-screws f, so that their points indicate on the dial E the propertime.

For the purposes of this description I will. we

say that the cam G is the one by which the gas is lighted, and the cam Hthat by which it is extinguished. When the cam G in its rotation reachesthe vertical arm of the lever I, which stands in its path, it forcessaid arm backwardly, thereby turning the lever on its pivot, so that itshorizontal arm rises, which movement through the link J and arm K movesthe pawl (1 over, causing it to slip one tooth on the ratchet d on thevalve D. As soon as the cam G relieves the lever I, the spring 2' ofsaid lever throws its horizontal arm down, thereby, through the link Jand the arm K, bringing forward the pawl (1 which turns the valve D, sothat one of its ports is in line with the hole in the pipe a, therebyopening the gas-communication and holding it open. The gas thereuponpasses up through the passages a to the burner. The cam G in itsrevolution at the same time that it is operating the lever I also comesin con tact with the interrupting end of the lever L, thereby forcing itback, so that its horizontal arm relieves the link M and the link I, sothat the spring 0 ofthe sparking'lever operates to throw said leverbackwardly to position. As the cam relieves the lever L the spring Z ofsaid lever throws it back, so that its horizontal arm bearing down onthe shoulder m of the link M brings said link and the link P down, whichmovement throws the sparking-lever over, so that its contact-point 0passes over the burner part, thereby lighting the gas.

To make this part of my invention more clear I will state that in Fig. 1the sparkinglever O is shown in its normal position, with its spring 0'tending to throw said lever over to the left of the burner. Thistendency, however, is resisted by the bellcrank lever L, whose spring Zkeeps the horizontal arm of the lever down against the shoulder orofiset m on the lower end of the link M. Now, when the cam G movesaround and contacts with the vertical arm of the lever L, the horizontalarm of said lever relieves the link M, thereby permitting the spring 0to throw the sparking lever to the oppositeside of the lever, or to aposition to the left of that shown in Fig. 1. The spring 0 keeps thesparking-lever in this latter position until the cam Grelieves the leverL, when the spring Z, acting upon the said 'lever, throws thehorizontal. arm down upon the shoulder or offset m of the link M, whichmovement, through the medium of the links M and P, quickly throws thesparking-lever back to the position shown in Fig. 1, the said lever inits movement past the burner lighting the gas.

The movement of the sparking-lever to the. left of the burner is for thepurpose of getting it into a position where the link M may be readilyengaged by the lever L when the latter is relieved by its cam, and alsoto permit said lever and its adjuncts to be operated during the movementof the lever which controls the gas-communication.

It will also be observed that the lever L is so arranged with relationto the lever I that it is relieved shortly after the lever I isrelieved,

which gives sufficient time for the gas to reach the burner before thesparking-point moves across it. The apparatus remains in this positionuntil the cam H comes around and opcrates the lever I, so that throughits connecting mechanism the valve D is turned to close off the gas.

In order to prevent the spring I, which throws the lever L to position,from bringing the links M and P down with a jerk, and to avoid a toorapid movement of the sparkinglever, which would be occasioned by such ajerk, I have connected the links M and P with the curved lever N. Theinner face of said lever for a certain distance from its end I make withteeth at, which mesh with a pinion, g, on a shaft, g, which carries alarge gear, Q, which meshes with a pinion, r, on a shaft, 1-, whichcarries a fan, It. By this gearing the movement of the lever N isretarded sufficiently to prevent the spring Z from forcing it down toosuddenly.

In cities where the gas is not lighted when the moon is full, or is justapproaching or past it, I provide for rendering the mech anisminoperative during said period by the following means:

S is a gear-wheel which is driven suitably by the clock mechanism, andis on a short shaft or pin, 8, on which is loosely pivoted a disk, T,having a projecting lug, t, which is adapted to come in contact withboth the levers l and L. The disk T is set in any desired position bymeans of aset-screw, t, which passes through the lugt and into a curvedslot or groove, 3, made in the gear S. In order to facilitate theadjustment of the disk T, I have on the face of the casing A therepresentation of the full moon, (here designated by IL) and projectingfrom the periphery of the disk T is a pointer, 15". Now when the disk isturned so that the pointer is turned toward the representation of thefull moon, the lug t of said disk is brought in such a position withrelation to the levers I and L as to come in contact with said leversand force them back out of the path of the cams during the requiredperiod in which the gas is to remain unlighted. The clock-work mechanisminside of the easing A is preferably so arranged as to run for acalendar month, in which case it is obvious that the wheel S should beso geared up as to make its revolution in twenty-eight days, tocorrespond with the lunar month.

I do not wish to confine myself to the use of electricity for thelighting, as mechanical de vices may be employed which can be operatedby the movement of the levers.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a gas lighter and extinguisher, the burner, the valve controllingthe admission of gas to the burner, a pivoted lever,and connections withthe valve for operating it, in combination with a lighting apparatus forlight ing the gas at the burner, a pivoted springactuated lever andconnections with thelight ing apparatus for operating it, and the rotarycams for operating the twolevers successively, whereby the gas is turnedon and off at the valve and lighted and extinguished at the burner,substantially as described.

2. In a gas lighter and extinguisher, the burner, the valve controllingthe admission of gas to the burner, a pivoted lever, and connec tionswith the valve for operating it, a lighting apparatus iorlighting thegas at the burner, a pivoted lever, and connections with thelightingapparatus for operating it, and a spring engaging said lever, incombination with arotary cam for operating the two levers successively,whereby the gas is turned on at the valve and lighted at the burner, anda second succeeding rotary cam for operating the first lever, wherebythe gas is turned off at the valve and extinguished at the burner,substantially as described.

3. In a gaslighter and eXtinguisher,a burner and a pivoted electricalsparking-lever,and an actuatingspring for said lever, in combina tionwith rotating cams and pivoted hell-crank lever, one end of which is inthe path of said cams, whereby it is operated, a spring actuating saidbell crank lever, a pivoted curved lever having rack-teeth, and gearingwith which it meshes to regulate its movement, a link connecting thebellcrank lever with the curved lever, and a link connecting said curvedlever with the sparking lever, substantially as herein described.

4. In a gas lighter and extinguisher, the burner, a rotary valvecontrolling the admission of gas to the burner, and a pivoted electricalsparki ng-lcver having a spring to return it to position, in combinationwith succeeding rotary cams, independent hell-crank levers having eachone end in the path of the cams, whereby each is operated successivelyby each cam, springs for returning levers to position, apavvl-andratchet mechanism for operating the valve, connecting leversandlinlts between said mechanism and one of the levers, andconnecting-links between the other of said levers and thesparking-lever, substantially as described.

5. In a gas lighter and extinguisher, the burner, a rotary valvecontrolling the ad mis sion of gas to said burner, and a pivoted electrical sparking-lever having a spring to return it to position, incombination with succeeding rotary earns mounted adjustably, a fixeddial by which said cams are accurately ad usted, independent bell-cranklevers having each one end in the path of the cams, whereby each isoperated successively by each cain,springs for returning the levers toposition, a pawl-andratchet mechanism for operating the valve,connecting-levers and links between said mechanism and one of thelevers, and connecting links between the other of said levers andsparking lever, substantially as described.

6. In a gas lighter and extinguisher, a burner, a gas-conduit, a valveby which the admission of gas to the burner is controlled, and anelectrical sparking-lever for lighting the burner,in combination with afixed dial and a hand moving over said dial to indicate the time, awheel moving with the hand, cams adjustably secured to the wheel,pivoted levers operated by the cams, and connections from said levers bywhich the valve and the sparking-lever are operated, substantially asherein described.

7. In a gas lighter and extinguisher, a burner,a casing having passagesfor the gas in its walls,and a pipe communication at the bottom of saidpassages, and a burner at the top, in combination with the rotary valvecontrolling the inlet of the gas,the sparking-lever for lighting the gasat the burner, rotary adjustable cams on the face of the casing, thefixed dial,whereby the cams may be adjusted to the proper time, thepivoted levers operated by the cams, and connections between said leversand the valve and sparkingdcvcr, substantially as herein described.

8. In a gas lighter and extinguisher, a burner, a gasconduit, a valvecontrolling the admission of gas to the burner, and an electricalsparking-lever for lighting the gas at said burner, in combination withrotary cams, pivoted spring-actuated levers operated by said cams,connections from said levers to the valve and sparking-lever, wherebythey are operated, and the adjustable rotary disk T, having the lug t,adapted to come in contact with the levcrs,whereby they are held out ofposition during any given period, substantially as herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand,

RICHARD BRIDETVELL.

Witnesses;

THUS. Pnnnnnslisr, Wit. F, Boorrt.

